Topic: Neighbours kitten out for 5 days, need advice (Update: Now inside!) (Read 8604 times)

Millys Mum · « **Reply #32 on:** February 13, 2009, 12:05:11 PM »

Quote from: Maddiesmum on February 13, 2009, 07:32:41 AM

It makes me so mad to read about your irresponsible uncaring neighbour who definitely wants to keep her cats. I don't know what you can do as now you have spoken with her she knows you are involved with the cat.

Yes that makes it much more tricky!
If the cat is friendly indoors then why isnt it going home? It obviously doesnt want to be in there and they cant really care as they dont make any attempt to get them in and down the vets.

Time is of the essence because if shes left too long there will kittens born outside and you will feel the responsibility to sort it all out.

Have you a friend who is looking for a cat or could look after her temporarily

alisonandarchie · « **Reply #31 on:** February 13, 2009, 07:48:28 AM »

You and OH are brilliant

Maddiesmum · « **Reply #30 on:** February 13, 2009, 07:32:41 AM »

It makes me so mad to read about your irresponsible uncaring neighbour who definitely wants to keep her cats. I don't know what you can do as now you have spoken with her she knows you are involved with the cat. I just hope you can catch the little mite and that you can do whatever you think is best for it. Best of luck and well done to you for caring when your neighbour so obviously does not. I have a neighbour like that too!

Felix Felicis · « **Reply #29 on:** February 13, 2009, 02:36:04 AM »

Sorry for the slow update!

After all your great tips my OH (I'm not a phone person

) took contact with rspca but they didnt have any cat traps and said she was probably on heat and would come back after some days. He then left 4 messages with different CP contacts in the area (this was during worktime/lunch so I guess most people were out working themself). Our work is very close to blue cross so my OH went in there after work, they don't have any cat traps either (my hopes started to go down by this point) but he got some tips from them as well when it came to catching and got a bunch of leaflets to give the neighbour - though it might be a bit late for that. (In the end we didnt push them through their door, they already know but they dont do it)

Later in the evening we got a call back from a very friendly lady from CP, she came with lots of tips, she also said it was a hard situation to be in and came with some good suggestions. They also have cat traps

they were in use when she called us, but we will get contacted again when they are available so that is great as I think we really will not make it without. We don't have a car but they could even help with getting them here! Our friend with his old wreck of a car can bring it back again this weekend (crossing all fingers and toes - we will catch her).

After the chat with CP we went out to try to find the little furball again, but no sign of her at all. Some hours later it started snowing, but no paw prints in the snow. I started thinking something bad might have happened to her, we don't live on a busy road but it only takes one car on the calmest road and one unlucky cat so as the hours flew by I got more and more upset. It is bad enough thinking about a small shy young hungry cat laying outside in the snow trying to keep warm, but when we did not see her for almost 2 days in a row I couldnt get my mind of it.

Yesterday (if we are not counting past midnight!) my OH decided to talk to the neighbour. I was at work so do not know what was said in detail, but she is def wanting to keep the cat, and the reason they arent spayed/neutered is because she was unsure how old the female is. My OH explained that the male is mounting her and that something must be done really ASAP, and she said she had planned to take them to the RSPCA together (for neutering). OH also said we havent seen her for some days, but we do see the male and as they are usually together we were getting worried about her, but the neighbour said she was almost certain she was hiding in an old shed nearby and would check it in daylight. She also said the cat is friendly inside and now let her son stroke her and often comes up for a cuddle. Bit of back on forth my OH didnt want to be rude or to pushy and the fact that she wanted to neuter them made it a tiny bit better. (but only for one night) Today OH met her after work, she didnt bother checking the shed because she had to go somewhere and had not seen the cat around.

Needless to say OH rushed over to check the shed asap (its behind a fence through a garden so a tiny mission ok but not something you need full daylight and scene lights for) no cat to be found. I told OH my worries and he started to feel a bit down too, poor little kitten possibly pregnant outside freezing and being hungry - or overrun by a car. We got some smelly fish from the shop, and left it outside so she could pick it up during the night if she was hungry and still around.

Today we finally spotted her again, and my OH managed to get her pretty close by offering some smelly fish and throwing biscuits towards her. I'm so happy she is (looks like) ok and still hopefully nearby, and know where to come for food now - fish, chicken and biscuits (RC) is surely better than the cheap stuff from the shop anyways

Hope she won't get an upset tummy

Still very shy, and running off after about 10-15 min with sneak feeding her. Our cat is always very interested, not that easy to trap a cat when our own is sticking his head into the cat carrier and wondering if all this great stuff is for him

so we are keeping him inside now. My OH hoped the neighbour kitten would realize we are good and loving people by seeing how we are to our own cat

but that didnt work so far!

I'm really frustrated at the moment, I don't feel we can do the right thing whatever we do - except to trap her and get her neutered - but feels wrong to give her back, she will be out again within 3 days im sure

If we keep her we could get in trouble, and the CP lady told us we have to sign a legal document at the vet to spay a female cat - stating that we are the owners and she recommended not doing this, and we really really do not want to hand her over to any shelter, mostly because she is so shy and we think she needs all the attention and socializing she can get in a warm home but also because we are right here, we care about her and can give her that and we also got a cat that are perfectly fine with her. I'm sure it will turn out ok for all parts once we catch her.

The CP lady also told us about a vet clinic in London (? need to double check with OH!) that can spay/neuter as young as 4 weeks, and I didnt know that cold be done so early so close to us so when or if we get a new cat or kitten on our own at least we know about that!

We also offered to foster for CP, but we already have a cat and no secure/own garden so they usually wouldnt place a cat/kitten with us, but they wrote us down anyways. We do have a guest room so it would be fully possible, and after all the great help we got from CP it would be really nice to help them out too if they need it ( I would realize I can't live without a possible foster cat within 1 hour so I would probably end up keeping all

)

Ugh I'm still a bit down and frustrated, if it was MY cat missing I would be out every hour of the day trying to get the cat in, buying snack and making tons of tempting toys, asking the neighbours and putting up posters anything I could do.. but these people havent been outside to look not even once, dont even ask if we have seen her when we meet them outside. Our place looks quite horrible now, the floors are muddy from running in and out - fetching carriers, string and food, and it is freezing cold and wet, if we catch her she will probably not notice she is inside

2d · « **Reply #28 on:** February 11, 2009, 22:45:23 PM »

Poor wee things need rescuing and at the very least, neutering. Aside from the lack of care these two are getting, what would happen to the poor kittens (doesn't bode well given the standard of care for these ones) - and from what you say. it's only a matter of time...

Don't get me wrong, have nothing against cats going out as such, but this is different.

We don't have a cat flap at the moment (big issue to do with lack of cash and an old back door that fell apart), but I'm here all day, and when Magnus is out I'm either in a room where I can see the whole garden, so if he comes home I know and let him in, or I'm at the window shouting at least once an hour, just in case!!!!!

There's another cat hanging round our back door at the moment - I'm trying to work out if it's lost or just left out all day - and half the time I hear it (won't let me get close enough to tell if he or she) yowling and think it's Mags and go to let him in

Millys Mum · « **Reply #27 on:** February 11, 2009, 18:26:46 PM »

Quote from: trigger on February 11, 2009, 15:51:18 PM

the problem with taking the neighbour's cats in is that they might go on to get more

The other option is to let this one breed... with people like this theres no easy option, you have to act on each problem they cause as it arrives. It sounds like they only took the cat on to help a friend never went looking for one so hopefully wouldnt get another replacement

pappilon · « **Reply #26 on:** February 11, 2009, 18:13:01 PM »

We tried with the cat carrier and string on door but did not get her close enough to give it a proper try, I will go out again in a bit and see if i find them and if I do sit down with the carrier and hope for the best. Sadly she now tries to avoid the friendly male and knows my OH is up to something.

[/quote]
Hi , i tried to get a cat to my flat once by puting the food closer to the door and left the door open and second serving just where the entrance was so the cat had tiny bit and then came for second helping and then i did this and left the food inside the flat but is best if the kitten or cat doesnt see you ! THis way you can earn thier trust and it may take few days but once in, you put the food further and further and then close the door, also puting some strong catnip and leaving the door open might help, thats if she likes catnip!
Good luck , i am sure you will catch her. X

Kay and Penny · « **Reply #25 on:** February 11, 2009, 15:51:18 PM »

the problem with taking the neighbour's cats in is that they might go on to get more

Millys Mum · « **Reply #24 on:** February 11, 2009, 15:50:22 PM »

I wouldnt bother explaining, if you get a do gooder they wont help steal someone elses pet whether its wanted or not! Stick to the its a stray story and no one will care

Once you catch her and get her done, can you keep her in until her hair is back? Then atleast if they argue its their animal she wont ever get pregnant and it can be worked on for her to go elsewhere, they are more than likely not going to care shes gone

JackSpratt · « **Reply #23 on:** February 11, 2009, 10:32:58 AM »

No more advice for you, people are giving good ideas already - just wanted to send you and OH a hug.

Well done for trying to help these little guys; it's awful when you know an animal isn't given the shelter it needs isn't it?

We have two cats near us with different owners who are let out (which is not an issue with me) but don't a cat flap. (which is) They can be out for hours at a time, and one of them even tries to come in our house. Poor things.

Janeyk · « **Reply #22 on:** February 11, 2009, 07:53:31 AM »

First of all they need spaying/neutering but they belong to someone else (who doesn't sound interested)

If I were in your situation I would contact the local CP asap, if they are like ours they will listen to the situation and tell you what to do step by step.

Best of luck with this.

Maddiesmum · « **Reply #21 on:** February 11, 2009, 07:40:31 AM »

This is an awful situation for you. It makes you wonder why some people have cats or any animals for that matter. I think a CP trap would work best if you can borrow one. This is what Dawn and I did when trappping my neighbour's multitude of half feral cats. Dawn put some pilchards on the newspaper inside the trap and even the wildest of them couldn't resist. In fact, I think it was the wildest that went into the trap first. Of course you would have to try to make sure you trapped her in the day as it would be very cold if she was in the trap all night. The problem with asking the neighbours if you can have her is what if they say you can't? Best of luck

Mark · « **Reply #20 on:** February 11, 2009, 07:00:53 AM »

For kittens under 2.5kg you should use the 15mg size Stronghold. The next size up is 45mg for cats over 2.5kg.

Sonnie · « **Reply #19 on:** February 11, 2009, 05:25:39 AM »

OMG
reading this post im shocked

I recon that if you can manage to catch her then by all means, try and get her spayed, definately.
I know through having Louie, that Cat Protection can help you with the cost of neutering, or any expenses that occur through you helping the little minx!!
Fingers crossed things get sorted and your neighbours learn through this and dont go getting anymore cats!!

To catch her, try a sneaky tactic!

If you have a kitty toy thats like a feather or something that a kitten could not resist, try getting her into a playfull mood, and play with her from your door step, if you can stay in the doorway, and not go out this should work!!! hopefully she gets 100% fixed! then if you can slowly get yourself further indoors, so you can kind of see her and she cant really notice you! While playing she might come in following the toy! It worked with my Co-co when he was a baby, and decided to escape out of the slightest gap in the kitchen window!!

good luck, my fingers are crossed for ya x

Felix Felicis · « **Reply #18 on:** February 11, 2009, 04:21:21 AM »

No luck yet, it is not raining or snowing tonight so I guess she found a new hiding place

Got some other questions as well, when we catch her would it be fine to use stronghold on her? (Don't have any frontline at the moment) or should we wait until she has seen a vet and been spayed/vaccinated? Can the vets refuse to spay her if they know it is not our cat and/or recognizes her? (Not sure if she has been to the vet before or what vet it would be). Catnapping is not an easy task

Felix Felicis · « **Reply #17 on:** February 11, 2009, 02:47:04 AM »

(My OH wrote the other posts but had to go to bed - another late night out with carrier, string and cat treats

Hope it is ok that we write from the same account, if not I will make a new)

Still no luck catching the kitten, the flat stinks of fried chicken and our own cat is now very excited

This has been going on for some months now, they originally only had one cat (the male) but got the female from friends because their kids was to rough with her.. some weeks before Christmas the owner came out while the 2 of us tried to catch them both (this was when they were still young and not allowed outside, but jumped out of the first floor windows..) but quickly got tired and went to bed. We then caught them and kept them inside, the next morning my OH delivered them back. Some days later the male was outside again, now allowed to be out and the female inside but far to often climbing the top of the open first floor windows. I do not know their situation well enough to say if the cats/kittens have a good home when they are inside but it does seem quite noisy over there (police trouble couple of times per year..)and they also have a son though i do not know if he is good with cats or not.
I guess they are approachable but the few times we have seen them outside they seem to be of the opinion that "the cats will come back when they are hungry enough" or "yeah they got out again" type of attitude

We tried with the cat carrier and string on door but did not get her close enough to give it a proper try, I will go out again in a bit and see if i find them and if I do sit down with the carrier and hope for the best. Sadly she now tries to avoid the friendly male and knows my OH is up to something.

I have been looking for another cat for quite some time actually, but after some disappointing trips to the local rescue (they put FIV cats down when they have about 80 free pens, some might agree on this but for me that is horrible and we are not interested in adopting from them) and no luck on the half reasonable ads that pop up on -well you know those pages we don't like them very much. If or I should really say when we catch her, I would love to keep her but not sure if we should talk to the neighbour or not, sure they probably want her back but for how long will she stay. It is all very frustrating, and I really do feel she need a calmer home with more socializing and attention so she can get used to humans and enjoy it. Either way we have to catch her and get her spayed, I agree that the male should get neutered too but sadly it will be hard enough to scrape together 80£ for getting one of them done and we do feel the female is more urgent as she can already be pregnant

Time to get outside in the cold again, I will keep you updated and thank you for all the great advise! (I will also make a proper post and introduce us and the cat, about time now that I've lurked around here for months reading what everyone else is posting

)

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #16 on:** February 11, 2009, 01:18:56 AM »

Another way of trying to catch her is to tie a piece of string to the carrier door so that once she goes in you can pull it shut quick and then you have time to get to it to close it.

Do you know these neighbours are they approachable?

CC & The Pussycat Guys & Dolls · « **Reply #15 on:** February 10, 2009, 23:14:47 PM »

Or a lazer pen may work. I can manage to lure my cats into the house with that. Although if they are not prepaired to do anything for the kitten she may aswell go to another home.

Sam (Fussy_Furball) · « **Reply #14 on:** February 10, 2009, 22:23:37 PM »

If she hangs round the back door ... they could try luring her in with the aide of a long piece of string. They need to be sneaky and position themselves where she can't see them but they can lure her in and them once she is in shut the door behind her.

Felix Felicis · « **Reply #13 on:** February 10, 2009, 22:23:01 PM »

Yes we do have one cat of our own, a 6 year old neutered male who is bashing the other male a bit when he mounts her.

I tried the cat carrier thing, it kind of worked, but wasnt fully successful. She went in there and grabbed the food and ran out before I could get close! But I think it's building up her confidence and hopefully I can go again after I've eaten my own dinner

It's tough though, I have to throw several biscuits to get her to notice the food in the carrier, and I'm worried she may get too full up to care soon. Also the male is mounting her every 30 sec and then she runs away a little, add to that the ^%&^ing annoying sensor light that keeps popping on every time I move a muscle and this is becoming a big chore. Hopefully we'll get there in the end though.

Thanks again for the advice.

JackSpratt · « **Reply #12 on:** February 10, 2009, 22:11:39 PM »

I do agree CC, but one step at a time.

The female has to be priority at that age being allowed near unneutered toms. Then maybe a sneaky op for the male.....they probably wouldn't notice anyway from what's been said.

Cooked chicken should be fine.

CC & The Pussycat Guys & Dolls · « **Reply #11 on:** February 10, 2009, 21:53:41 PM »

I would actually get them both in and both neutered. Just not right thinking these people just let their cats run around getting other cats pregnant, if my cat was caught without me knowing I would go insane!

So please try to get them both sorted, it will help them in the long run.

Do you have any cats of your own? If not you seem to care more about these 2 more than their actuall owner, so I would suggest to the owner if she dosnt really want them for you to take them. Thats if you could.

And also tell her not to be getting any more cats if you do take them!

alisonandarchie · « **Reply #10 on:** February 10, 2009, 21:36:45 PM »

I am sure the smell of cooked chicken might lure her, best of luck

Felix Felicis · « **Reply #9 on:** February 10, 2009, 21:34:46 PM »

By the way, we are actually having Chicken for dinner tonight, would you suggest raw or cooked chicken to lure her in, I don't know how acute kittens sense of smell is.

Christine (Blip) · « **Reply #8 on:** February 10, 2009, 21:32:07 PM »

Contact your local rescue - see http://www.catchat.org/ and check out the left hand side - as a matter of urgency. They will be able to help and advise you.

Felix Felicis · « **Reply #7 on:** February 10, 2009, 21:30:54 PM »

I could try that yes, I doubt she trusts me enough to go inside with me too close but i might have time to get over and shut the door before she realises. My only worry with that is, if she escapes it might make her very wary of any trap we might put down if we were able to borrow one, and thus make that option void. I don't know, but I am quite worried for her, at least the last 2 times we saw the male mount her our neutered male cat jumped on him and allowed her to escape, he is quite the hero.

JackSpratt · « **Reply #6 on:** February 10, 2009, 21:28:06 PM »

I think if the little one is pregnant it might be a consideration to get her spayed; I think it's possible. She would lose the kittens (which don't get me wrong is terribly sad) but wouldn't have to cope with the rigours of motherhood at such a young age herself.

Have you tried putting a cat carrier on the floor with something really tasty in (tuna, chicken) and catching her that way? If she trusts you enough to enter a cat carrier with you that close that is.

Kay and Penny · « **Reply #5 on:** February 10, 2009, 21:20:28 PM »

I once had a neighbour whose little kitten was basically living in a coal shed, with a bit of food left in the garden - I strolled up there with my Cushty and the kitten followed us home - I shut the door quick and managed to smuggle the kitten out to a rescue two days later

the neighbour abandoned the rented property a week later and never inquired about the missing kitten

alisonandarchie · « **Reply #4 on:** February 10, 2009, 21:19:55 PM »

Sounds like your neighbours have a very strange attitude, very worrying

It would be great if you could take in the kitten, wonder if its had all of its injections

Otherwise Cats protection could take it in

Felix Felicis · « **Reply #3 on:** February 10, 2009, 21:14:49 PM »

Okay, thanks for the fast reply, I will email them now about that suggestion, any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am also curious as to what people think I should do if I get the kitten. As I said the neighbours don't seem to care a great deal, they are of the mind that "she will come when she's hungry", although it's been at least 5 days now so I don't believe this is the case. I am tempted to keep the kitten in my place so she isn't in danger of getting pregnant, the fact that they have a 10 month old outdoor un-neutered male and a 6 month old un-neutered female leaves me quite worried

alisonandarchie · « **Reply #2 on:** February 10, 2009, 21:11:16 PM »

Wow thats a bit worrying.

I am sure some of the others will have some good advice

It sounds as if she will shortly become pregnant if she is left un neutured

The only thing I can think of to catch her if all else fails is a trap. You could probably borrow one from your nearest Cats Protection

Felix Felicis · « **Reply #1 on:** February 10, 2009, 20:06:25 PM »

Hi there,

Our neighbours kitten has got out and been out since friday (at least). She is very scared of humans, and though she will sometimes sit outside their door, if they open it she will run away instantly. They cannot get her inside and don't seem to try very hard either. Me and my partner have spent several hours trying to coax her by throwing single pieces of cat food (biscuits) which she will chase and eat, but as soon as we get within 2 metres she will run away. She has a "brother" cat (not really brother but lives in the same house), who is an outdoor cat and is un-neutured. We noticed today he was mounting her. She is about 6 months old and the boy is about 10 months.

Since it has been 5 days we are starting to get quite worried that she will run away permanently or become feral, and after seeing the brother cat mounting her we are worried she could become pregnant which I gather can be quite dangerous at 6 months. If anyone has any advice as to how we could catch her and bring her inside, and what we should do with her after that it would be a great help.

Thanks.

Author Topic: Neighbours kitten out for 5 days, need advice (Update: Now inside!) (Read 8604 times)